Kevin Quinn

Highland dancers from Speirs School of Dance in Rothesay enjoyed their recent trip to the Dunoon Highland Dancing Festival.

All the school’s dancers picked up medals for their efforts at the event on April 14, with Anna McIntyre and Holly Black also each winning a trophy.

Margaret-Anne Speirs from Speirs School of Highland Dance, which was established in 1996, was delighted with her dancers’ success. She said: “I was really pleased for them. It’s the start of the season so that’s them starting to get out. I’m very pleased.

“Everyone that went over got placed which was nice. Sometimes somebody gets left out. So that makes a difference to everyone coming back happy. And it gives everyone a boost to keep going .

“They will work even harder to improve next time. It gives them the confidence to do better.

“Everybody cheers everybody else on. I’m very lucky that I have got a very close school. I have got a lot of kids who are really encouraging with each other. That side of it is very good here.

“Especially the ones that do well. They push the others. It’s a team effort.”

Parent Charlotte McIntyre, whose trophy-winning daughter Anna has been at the school for 10 years, said: “The kids go two nights a week and put a lot of hard work in so it’s nice to see them get rewarded.

“It was a good day. There was a lot of us parents there. It’s the same every year, well organised and busy.”